World War II: Starting with the defeat of the Desert Fox

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Thorne understood what was going on between the two.

Ramsden followed Ochinlake's tank warfare tactics, which were known in the British Army as "Desert Mobile Defense".

In short, he placed tanks in front, supplemented by anti-tank guns, in an attempt to strengthen the British armored forces. He aimed to first combine the power of tanks and anti-tank guns to annihilate the German armored forces, and then deal with the German infantry.

Montgomery, on the other hand, had the outlandish idea that since Ochinleck's tactics were not going to work, they should simply reverse the situation: place the infantry in front of the tanks to defeat the German infantry first, and then it would be much easier to deal with the armored forces.

Montgomery called this tactic "crushing warfare" and used it in the counter-offensive at the Battle of El Alamein.

But as it turned out, this tactic was nothing but a joke. In this battle, the British army suffered heavy casualties despite having an absolute advantage in all aspects, and ultimately only won by a narrow margin.

Montgomery wasn't completely ignorant of tank tactics; he only knew a little bit, nothing more.

Thorne was caught in the middle, caught in the middle.

More importantly, their theories on tank tactics are opposite and contradictory.

How can this be reconciled?

"I'm not so sure, General," Thorne tried to brush it off. "I've only been in the army for a short time and I don't know much about armored tactics. So..."

"Relax, Captain." Montgomery had no intention of letting Thorne off the hook so easily.

"We're just having a discussion; any ideas are welcome. This isn't a battlefield."

"Only by fully considering every possibility can we avoid making mistakes on the battlefield."

He then turned his gaze to Ramsden: "You must agree, Herbert?"

"Yes, of course." Herbert nodded, but didn't even glance at Thorne, his gaze fixed on Montgomery.

Thorne found it ironic!

Neither of them believed that Thorne had any creative ideas about armored tactics; they were simply using Thorne as a "buffer zone."

Okay, you forced me to do this!

You two newbies are fighting amongst yourselves, and you're using me as cannon fodder? Well then, I won't hold back!

Thorne took a moment to gather his thoughts and said calmly:

"I believe that the original intention of inventing the tank was to shield infantry from enemy machine gun fire and to clear roads."

"But the battlefield evolves with the times and changes, and we should define tanks according to the development and changes of the battlefield."

"Instead of remaining static and simply placing tanks in front of infantry to serve as 'bullet shields' and 'road clearers', we should not remain stagnant."

Montgomery grunted, glanced at Ramsden across from him, and gave a provocative smile: "The Battle of Knightsbridge is a prime example; tanks in front only become easy targets for the enemy."

Thorne's statement resonated with him.

Ramsden remained silent with a stern face, his disdain clearly telling others: You two are in cahoots, Thorne is your advisor, of course he's on your side.

Unexpectedly, Thorne said the following sentence:

"Of course, we can't simply put infantry in front of tanks."

"This will deprive infantry of necessary fire support, allowing the enemy to relentlessly slaughter infantry with just machine guns."

"This has been proven not to work in World War I."

Ramsden glanced at Thorne with some surprise, then turned to Montgomery and retorted sharply: "The Battle of the Somme is a prime example; it set a record of 6 casualties in a single day, sir."

Montgomery's smile faltered for a moment, but he quickly regained his composure.

I cannot perform worse than a captain or staff officer.

"Hmm." Montgomery smiled lightly, feigning composure, and said to Thorne as if he already knew the answer, "It seems you've learned quite a bit lately, Captain. That's good!"

Ramsden posed the question:

"Well then, Captain."

"Which unit do you think is the right one to be at the front?"

"Tanks or infantry?"

"Neither, General," Thorne replied, firm and confident.

"Neither?"

A flicker of surprise crossed Montgomery's eyes, but he quickly looked down to drink water and masked it.

Ramsden looked puzzled.

They were all thinking about the same question: Is there a third possibility?

Thorne provided the answer:

"The battlefield is a complex and ever-changing place, General."

"If there are roadblocks or landmines ahead, are we still going to put the tanks in front and force our way through?"

"Conversely, if there is enemy machine gun fire ahead, should we still send the infantry ahead?"

Thorne glanced at the two speechless men and continued:

"Therefore, there is no such thing as tanks or infantry having to be in front. If any theory requires this, then that theory is undoubtedly wrong."

"The correct approach should be for infantry and tanks to work closely together, and to choose different responses depending on the specific battlefield situation."

"I mean, if it's appropriate to send infantry first, then send infantry in; otherwise, the opposite is also true!"

Montgomery's expression didn't change much, but this was clearly the result of ample psychological suggestion.

Ramsden was incredulous; he couldn't believe these words came from the mouth of a captain who had never been on the battlefield or experienced tank warfare.

However, he knew that what Thorne said was more in line with actual combat.

Thorne continued his analysis:

"Based on this theory, we should make tanks independent units rather than as appendages to infantry."

"At the same time, we need to equip tanks with dedicated accompanying infantry."

"What I mean is, a professional and diverse group of escort infantry!"

The British army required all infantrymen to learn combined arms tactics, resulting in everyone having a little bit of it but no one being proficient.

Even the so-called "dedicated accompanying infantry" of armored units are just a small group of infantrymen that have been given a little training before being deployed. In actual combat, they still fight separately with almost no coordination.

(Note: In 1942, the British tank tactics were severely outdated. During offensive operations, armored units would be divided into companies and platoons and assigned to infantry units. They would only operate independently as armored units when absolutely necessary. Therefore, although armored units were separated from the infantry in terms of organizational structure, they were still effectively subordinate to the infantry.)

Ramsden, who had commanded armored forces for many years, immediately realized the benefits of doing so:

"Because of the small number of personnel, we can train these accompanying infantrymen to a new level."

"For example, issuing a warning when a tank's blind spot is detected."

"For example, designating attack targets for tanks..."

Thorne nodded:

"That's about it. In addition, there's clearing mines for tanks, reconnaissance of road conditions, and so on."

"In this way, tanks and infantry provide professional-level 'mutual cover,' rather than simply acting as shields or mobile firepower."

"Every accompanying infantryman knows when a tank can be effective, when to evade danger, and how to evade danger."

Ramsden became more and more excited as he listened.

"Let's go back to square one, Captain," he said. "According to your theory, how can we avoid being routed by the enemy during the counter-offensive at Knightsbridge?"

Thorne answered calmly:

"Remember what I meant by 'accompanying infantry diversity'? If the accompanying infantry is equipped with radios and accompanied by artillery scouts."

"Once the German anti-tank guns opened fire and revealed their positions, they could immediately guide the artillery behind them to suppress them."

"Then, under the cover of artillery, infantry and tanks launched an assault on the enemy positions, providing mutual cover..."

Ramsden was so shocked that he couldn't speak for a long time.

This involves coordination at the infantry, tank, and artillery levels, and may even evolve into air-ground coordination.

It completely disrupted the existing combat methods of the British Army and overturned the tank tactics theories of all British "famous generals".

Montgomery's expression was a mix of emotions; he felt that his tank theory had died in the womb before it could even be put forward.